What does palliative care include?

At the most basic level, palliative care includes services such as assessments of how and what a patient is feeling, advance care planning, pain and symptom management, assistance with nutrition, and/or support a patient may need getting around. If needed, other professionals may be included. Even at the most basic level, palliative care entails a heightened attention to, and formal processes for, patient-appropriate assessment, communication with the patient and his/her family, coordination among providers, relief of illness burden, and supporting the patient’s goals for care.